Gamlingay Parish Council announced the contract to deliver the first phase has been awarded to Maydencroft Ltd of Hitchin, who hope to start on site imminently.

The new cemetery will be built in the front half of St Mary’s Field, which stands at the back of St Mary’s Church, between St Marys and Church Street.

The plan includes a car park for visitors in the immediate area, a range of different types of burial plots, landscaping with trees, shrubs and woodland and a pedestrian footpath leading down to Gamlingay’s Millbridge Brook country park.

The money to build this cemetery has come from Kier Housing, as part of a larger community benefits package agreed with Merton College, Oxford relating to the build of a new housing development on nearby Station Road.

Chair of Gamlingay Parish Council, Sarah Groom, said; “Gamlingay has needed a new cemetery for several years now, as the existing one is becoming full.

“We are delighted that Kier Housing has enabled us to deliver a facility that will serve the community for many years to come”.